The announcement by President Guillermo Lasso to authorize the possession and carrying of weapons for civilian use for personal defense under strict requirements, among other measures to combat insecurity, has unleashed controversy in Ecuador, where the voices for and against the provision.
The announcement was made at a time when increased violent acts in the countrywhich include murders, hitmen, the abandonment of a human head in a park and numerous robberies, including an assault on a bank in a busy shopping center in broad daylight in Guayaquil.
In that same city, criminals kidnapped a subject this week and hours later left him with a explosive device attached to his body.
Al Bomb squads took more than three hours to defuse the device that was taped to the citizen’s chest, as well as to his left leg, a scene never seen before in Ecuador.
Requirements
The decree signed for the possession and carrying of weapons specify among the requirements:
- Have reached at least 25 years of age
- Have a psychological test certificate
- Having passed the toxicological test that determines that the person does not ingest controlled substances or is not alcoholic, both issued by the Ministry of Public Health.
- Certificate of skill in the handling and use of the weapon issued by the Ministry of National Defense
- Not having an enforceable conviction for the commission of a crime
- Do not register a history of violence against women or members of the family nucleus
The decree that points out as requirements Ā«Others established by the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Command of the Armed Forces for that purposeā.
Controversy
The University of Cuenca In a statement, it rejected the decision of the Executive because it considers that this measure “transfers the state responsibility for security and protection to citizens.”
In addition, he pointed out, “studies show that the use of firearms increases homicides, femicides, suicides and social violence“, which will harm Ecuadorians especially” the most vulnerable who suffer the effects of the exacerbation of violence.
Because of the serious implications of the measure, the University asks Lasso to “immediately correct this serious error and assume their duty to formulate true public policies for the prevention of violence, promotion of social justice, inclusion and harmonious coexistenceā.
On their side, the bench of the conservative Social Cristiano party pointed out that it has Ā«two years asking for it to be donesince it depended exclusively on the Executive Ā».
Ā«The intentions, the statements, the theory and the laws themselves are fine, but these will not solve anything if the pertinent actions are not applied, which must be immediate, permanent, financed and coordinated, “he said in a statement from list 6 and its allies.
For her part, the Salesian Polytechnic University made an appeal for peace and dialogue to resolve any conflict and considered that the free carrying of arms “will only exacerbate conflicts and violence, causing serious consequences for citizens and for a harmonious life” in society.
“Until now, it has been shown that a greater use of weapons corresponds to a higher degree of public peace,” he added while the president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie), Leonidas Iza, considered that the free carrying of weapons “encourage the emergence of paramilitary groupsĀ«.
Former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017) has also rejected the announcement: Ā«Let’s not let ineptitude kill us. With the ban on carrying weapons, we made Ecuador the second safest country in Latin America. They trashed everything and now they sell us their clumsy solutions,” he wrote on Twitter.
The Controversy broke out on social media as well., flooded with citizen arguments about the success/error of the Lasso decree. EFE